A Primer on De-Identifying and Anonymizing Social Psychology Data

This paper intends to provide a basic primer on de-identifying and anonymizing techniques, with a focus on protecting the identities of subjects belonging to marginalized groups, without erasing them from the data. The primer presents basic de-identification terminology, an annotated bibliography, and a collection of software and programs that can be employed in the de-identification process. Researchers should be aware they must use their discretion to weigh the usability of data against protection of subjects.